Combination steaming and pressing iron



Jan. 6, 1948. E. H. BASSETT 2,434,097

COMBINATION STEAMING AND PRESSING IRON Filed Nov. 25, 1943 INVEN TOR. If [ow/m0 H. 3053211:

therein and a closure for said chamber..

Patented Jan. 6, 1948 COMBINATION STEAMIN G AND PRESSING IRON Edward H. Bassett, West Hartford, Conn., assignor to The Silex Company, Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 25, 1943, Serial No. 511,691

4 Claims. (01. 38-77) This invention relates to steamingand pressing irons and more particularly to that type of such irons having a steam distributing chamber It has been found that, due to a certain amount of sediment accumulation and oxidization which takes place in such steaming irons, there is a tendency for any members that'are closely fitted, such as by screw threads, to become firmly bound together.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide fastening means for a closure which are not affected by oxidization or corrosion and which will permit the closure to be easily removed from its position even after long periods of use.

A further object of this invention is to provide novel means for securing such a closure in position without requiring the use of screw threads or the like.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a closure having snap fastening means for securing it in position.

Further objects and advantages of the inventening member there is provided a fastening portion l which consists of a head having an an nular groove l6 adjacent to the hexagonal head Y leakage therethrough.

tion will be more clearly understood from the following description and from the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a steam iron with parts thereof being shownincentral vertical section and illustrating an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view thereof showing the closure in position.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary bottom view with the closure removed.

Fig. 4 is a side view of one of the fastening members.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the closure.

Fig. 6 is a side view thereof.

As shown in the drawings, a steam iron comprising my invention may include a body portion 5 having a passage 8 therein for steam which is preferably supplied from a steam chamber '1. v

A sole plate 8 is provided at the bottom of the iron and a heating element 9 is positioned between the body 5 and the sole plate 8 for heating said sole plate and the steam chamber 1.

The said hole plate is provided with a steam distributing chamber ID in which is contained a fastening member H for securing the sole plate to the body.- The said fastening member is preferably formed with a hexagonal head II, to permit turning thereof with a suitable wrench. and is threaded to a post l3 which contains the passage 8 that communicates with the steam distributing chamber I 0 through a passage ll on the fastening member H.

A closure in the form of a cover l9 fits within a recess 20, surrounding the distributing chamber III, and has a bottom surface in alignment with the ironing surface 2| on the sole plate.

The said cover has an upstanding annular wall 22 providing a well 23 therein which underlies the bottom of the passage 14. A plurality of grooves 24 are provided in the sole plate 8 and open onto the ironing surface 2!. These grooves extend from the steam distributing chamber NJ, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and have their top walls preferably below the tops of the wall 23.

The wall 22 is preferably spaced from the inner wall of the distributing chamber I 0 to provide for the passage of steam into the ends of the grooves 24 and a surrounding flange 25 underlies the ends of said-grooves so as to direct the steam in the direction thereof.

In order to secure the cover IS in its position within the distributing chamber l 0,'there is preferably provided a spring member 26 having vertical inwardly extending prongs 21 which are adapted to extend into the groove I6, on the fastening member II, and engage the head IS. The ends of said prongs are preferably curved or rounded outwardly so that they may be forced apart upon being pressed into engagement with the outwardly sloping bottom edges 21 of the head l5 when the cover I9 is forced in position into the recess 20. The said spring member may be secured to the cover l9 by means of a protrusion 28 which is preferably formed integral with the cover, extends through an aperture in the spring member and is headed thereover to firmly retain the said spring member in position.

In the operation of my invention, the cover is secured in position by simply forcing the same into the recess 20, whereupon, the prongs 21 ofthe spring member 26 will snap into the groove l6. It will be understood that either or both of the abutting surfaces on the prongs and the bottom of the groove are tapered upwardly so that the tension in the prongs will serve to provide a constant upward pull upon the cover l9 to urge At the bottom of the fasit firmly into abutment with the bottom of the 3 recess 20. ,It will also be noted that the bottom portion of the spring 26 is fiat and rests against the surface of the cover l9 so that the flexing points are brought nearer to the prongs 21 and thereby serve to stiffen said prongs so that they will more securely grip the head l of the fastening member H. 1

When desired, the cover I!) may be readily removed from its position by inserting a suitable prying tool in any of the grooves 24 and prying outwardly upon the flange 20 so as to pull the prongs 21 from the groove 16.

It will be readily understood that my invention provides a fastening means for a closure as described, which is economical to produce, highly convenient to use and which is not affected by oxidization or sediment such as generally formed in steaming irons.

' I claim:

1. A steaming iron of the character described comprising a body portion, a sole plate having a downwardly opening recess in the bottom surface thereof, a securing member within said recess securing said sole plate to the body portion, a closure closing the opening of said recess, a depending portion on said securing member having an annular groove therein, and a U-shaped spring member on said closure having prongs engaging the wall of said groove for retaining said closure in position.

2. In a steaming iron of the character described and having a downwardly opening steam distributing chamber and open grooves extending therefrom, a, closure closing the opening of said chamber and having an upstanding annular Wall forming a well in said closure; the said annular wall being spaced from the 'wall of said recess to permit the passage of steam from said well over the top of said wall and between the said wall and the wall of said chamber into said grooves, a

- flange surrounding said closure and extending partly over said grooves to direct steam in the direction thereof, a spring member secured to the bottom of said well and having prongs projecting vertically therefrom, and means within said chamber adapted to receive the ends of said prongs for securing said closure in position.

3. A steaming and pressing iron of the character described comprising a body member, a sole plate having a downwardly opening recess in the bottom thereof, a fastening member located in said recess and securing said sole plate to the body member, a closure for the opening of said recess, and spring means on said closure engaging said fastening member for retaining the closure in position.

4. In a steam iron of the character described, a body portion, a sole plate having a downwardly opening recess in the bottom surface thereof, a

seated in the bottom of the recess, a head below said shoulder, and an extension below said head having a groove intermediate the end thereof and the said head for receiving said spring member.

EDWARD H. BASSETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,329,807 Wolcott Sept. 21, 1943 1,553,490 Wallace Sept. 15, 1925 1,931,695 Hall Oct. 24, 1933 298,649 Yingling et al May 13, 1884 2,337,078 Morton Dec. 21, 1943 

